Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
  • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
  • G06F1/1613—Constructional details or arrangements for portable computers
  • G06F1/1633—Constructional details or arrangements of portable computers not specific to the type of enclosures covered by groups G06F1/1615 - G06F1/1626
  • G06F1/1662—Details related to the integrated keyboard
  • G06F1/1666—Arrangements for reducing the size of the integrated keyboard for transport, e.g. foldable keyboards, keyboards with collapsible keys
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
  • G06F3/0202—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
  • G06F3/0216—Arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of a keyboard
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F1/00—Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00
  • G06F1/16—Constructional details or arrangements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
  • G06F3/0202—Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
  • G06F3/0221—Arrangements for reducing keyboard size for transport or storage, e.g. foldable keyboards, keyboards with collapsible keys

Definitions

• FIG. 3 illustrations one embodiment of a logic diagram.
• FIGS. IB illustrate one embodiment of a keyboard apparatus 140.
• Keyboard apparatus 140 may be the same or similar to keyboard apparatus 100 of FIG. 1A where like elements are similarly numbered.
• keyboard apparatus 140 includes a first support structure 104 arranged to support a plurality of keys 102 and a second support structure 108 arranged to support a set of keys 106.
• the second support structure 108 may be coupled to the first support structure 104 at 142.
• the coupling 142 may comprise a hinge, hinge pin or other suitable coupling that allows the second support structure 108 to rotate with respect to the first support structure 104.
• coupling 142 may including a biasing member comprising a spring or other biasing element to support the second support structure 108 in the coplanar position shown in FIG. IB.
• one or more magnets 152 may be arranged to maintain the second support structure 108 in the first position.
• the one or more magnets 152 may be coupled to the first support structure 104 and the second support structure 108 may include one or more ferrous surfaces that may be magnetically coupled to the one or more magnets 152.
• a base structure 150 may be to support the first 104 and second support structures 108.
• the base structure 150 may comprise a bottom portion of the keyboard apparatus 100, 140, 160 or a bottom portion of a computing device associated with keyboard apparatus 100, 140, 160.
• the base structure 152 may be arranged to prevent over rotation of the second support structure 108 in the second position shown in FIG. 1C.
• second support structure 108 may rotate until it contacts base structure 150 to avoid over rotation that may damage the biasing member/coupling 142.
• Hinge bar 210 may extend from hinge 214 attached to housing 202 to an area near the middle of a back side of lid 206 at hinge 212 in some embodiments.
• this arrangement may allow for computing device 200 to be arranged or operated in either a notebook configuration as shown in FIG. 2B or in a tablet configuration as shown and discussed in more detail with reference to FIG. 2C.
• the arrangement shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B may allow for a bottom portion of lid 206 to move in a direction indicated by arrow 230, a top portion of lid 206 to move in a direction indicated by arrow 232 and the combination of lid 206, hinge 212 and hinge bar 210 to move in a direction indicated by arrow 234.
• lid 206 may be moved from the notebook configuration shown in FIG. 2A where both the display 208 and the keyboard 204 or other input device are accessible, to the tablet configuration shown in FIG. 2C.
• FIG. 2D illustrates a perspective view of computing device 200 in a table configuration when a collapsible keyboard is not incorporated into the system.
• the hinge assembly 210 (including hinge 212) may come in contact with keyboard 204 in the closed, tablet configuration, leaving a gap or seam between the lid 206 and housing 202. This may lead to an increased system height, which is undesirable, and the resulting configuration may not be aesthetically pleasing.
• a lip may be added to lid 206 to cover the seam, but this does solution does not address the stacked height problem.
• FIG. 2E illustrates a close up view of computing device 200 in a table configuration when a collapsible keyboard is incorporated into the system.
• a collapsible keyboard as described with reference to FIGS. 1A, IB and 1C may be incorporated into the computing system 200 to accommodate the hinge 212.
• the collapsible keyboard may include single collapsible key or a single row of collapsible keys.
• the embodiments are not limited in this respect.
• the I/O device 406 may comprise one or more output devices connected to the interface circuits for outputting information to an operator.
• the output devices may include one or more displays, printers, speakers, and/or other output devices, if desired.
• one of the output devices may be a display.
• the display may be a cathode ray tube (CRTs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), or any other type of display.
• Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both.
• hardware elements may include processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Casings For Electric Apparatus (AREA)
• Input From Keyboards Or The Like (AREA)

Priority Applications (8)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=47996148

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (17)

• 2011
  • 2011-09-29 CN CN201180073827.XA patent/CN103842939B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-09-29 US US13/977,135 patent/US9568956B2/en active Active
  • 2011-09-29 WO PCT/US2011/053932 patent/WO2013048404A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-09-29 KR KR1020147008096A patent/KR101549821B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2011-09-29 JP JP2014531784A patent/JP5847947B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-09-29 EP EP11873474.8A patent/EP2761405B1/en active Active
• 2012
  • 2012-09-24 TW TW101218438U patent/TWM460328U/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2012-09-24 TW TW101134922A patent/TWI559175B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (6)

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